Jack Olsen (1925–2002)

Jack Olsen is an incredibly talented crime writer. This book is no different from his other books. He presents facts and renders no judgements. It's up to the reader to place judgement.

Books that involve the murder of vulnerable women and children are horrific and sad. The kids suffered agonizing deaths. They lost their futures. The subsequent pain Shawcross caused in the community and families of the children echoed across generations in Watertown. He should not have been released from prison, but with little legal recourse, the judge had no choice in his sentencing.

I'm a little proud of Binghamton, NY. I grew up near the town, although I wasn't living in the area when any of the narrative took place. Shawcross was run out of Binghamton/Delphi quickly by citizens and the press. Olsen's description of Binghamton was a bit overly nice though. It wasn't as neat and prosperous as he describes. It suffered from the same industrial decay as the rest of upstate NY from the 1970s onward.

The women he preyed upon in Rochester were vulnerable. They were victims of poverty, drug abuse and the streets of a dying small city at the end of a manufacturing heyday. Then they were the victims of Shawcross' bottomless rage and hatred of women. Their fates were sealed by societal attitudes in which they were seen as something less than human. They were the victims of laws and lawkeepers that keep them anonymous and hidden.

Every one of those women has a name and a story and Olsen puts them front and center. He interviews one woman who got away.

He also interviews the other victims from Shawcross' life - His many wives. I was appalled by the last two, Clara and Rose. It was hard for me to feel sympathy for them. The measure of delusional thinking and denial in which they had to engage is astounding.

The psychological bits about Shawcross were interesting. I'm interested in what further DNA testing would show up in his psychiatric profile, but the case is old, he is long dead and I doubt his lineage will be tested.

I haven't read a good true crime book for quite a while. I'm glad I picked this one up.… (mehr)

Brenda Gere was born the same year as me, so I felt particularly interested in her case, although I didn't know anything about it at the time she was missing. I was in high school in Baltimore and she was three thousand miles away in a shallow grave in Washington. Life is so unfair. I am glad her mom and brothers were able to see justice done and the monster locked away forever. The book was well-written, and I ordinarily love Jack Olsen, but this felt a bit false when describing Brenda during her life. The dialogue sounds more like 1960s than 1980s. But that's ok; I got the gist of her sunny and sweet personality, which is what matters.… (mehr)